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Archived News:
GameSpot
has news that their DLX service will debut the demo for Men of Valor, 2015's upcoming Vietnam
War first-person shooter, on Friday at 1:00 p.m. EDT (10:00 a.m. PDT). Word is:
"The Men of Valor demo will be approximately 310MB in size, and will feature a
large urban environment and a small jungle environment from the game. It will
sport three game types: deathmatch, team deathmatch, and multiplayer mission.
Players will be also able to select from three multiplayer classes: rifleman,
machinegunner, and sniper."
Atari's Betatests.net Homepage (thanks Frans) has word on plans to beta test
Act of War: Direct Action, with sign-ups for potential testers for the upcoming
military strategy game slated to begin on October 12.
- Close Combat: First to Fight
The
Close Combat: First to Fight Q&A on TotalVideoGames.com talks someone at
publisher Take Two Games about Destineer's upcoming military shooter:
"You’ll play First to Fight much differently than other tactical shooters.
Since your fire team automatically follows Marine Ready-Team-Fire-Assist
tactics, you don’t need to constantly issue them orders. Through much of the
game, you should let your fire team follow their tactics. However, when you
get to a particularly tough challenge, then it becomes critical for you to
consider how best to use your fire team to overcome the challenge."
- Middle-Earth Online
The
Chris Clay Q&A on Middle Earth Warcry talks with the Art Director on
Turbine's upcoming Tolkien-inspired MMORPG: "Adding creatures to a game
requires a long collaborative process that includes representatives from
Tolkien, VUG, and Turbine’s Art and Design teams. While there are rarely
official brainstorming sessions the rule of three leads to many informal
reviews during concept, modeling, and animation. At Turbine we work in an
open environment where we can all see each other. If more than three people
are looking at a monitor it tends to bring over the whole team to see what
new cool thing is being worked on."
- EverQuest II
The
EverQuest II Q&A on FileFront
converses with Steve "Moorgard" Danuser of Sony Online Entertainment about
their upcoming MMORPG sequel: "Our company is committed to supporting EQ for
years to come. An expansion has just been released that brings a lot of
innovation to the game, and future expansions are on the horizon. There's
absolutely no need for existing subscribers to stop playing EverQuest.
EverQuest II is not intended to replace the original. Our target audience is
the people who tried EQ and left over the years, and we also plan to bring
new players to the genre. Both games will exist side by side, and players
are free to enjoy both titles."
- Dark Fall: Lights Out
Uncover
the Dark Secrets of Dark Fall: Lights Out is a Q&A with Jonathan Boakes
about the adventure game sequel: "Each location in 'Lights Out' has plenty
of interaction, and objects to examine, and use. The art form does not
dictate the level of interaction which can be involved, so players will be
surprised by how much of this creepy location they can play with. As well as
good, solid puzzles, there are gadgets and gizmos to use, rooms to ransack
in search of clues, enigmas and private notes."
The official Atlantis Evolution
Website is now live, offering a homebase for The Adventure Company's
upcoming first-person adventure game. Word is: "With an undeniably original
storyline and beautifully stylized graphics, Atlantis Evolution is a must-have
adventure for the fall. In preparation of the game’s release,
AtlantisEvolution.com offers enthusiasts in-depth game information and a sneak
peak at the first installment of a new Atlantis series."
Bosnia and Herzegovina-based Stardev
Studio announces plans for their first game, a first-person shooter being
developed under the working title Project X due for release on the PC in 2006.
Word is: The team has been developing its own in-house 3d rendering
engine for the game. The game will be shown soon. "We are very excited about
this, PROJECT: X is a truly innovative new FPS with awesome graphics and
advanced gameplay mechanics", declared Mato Kapetanovic, founder of Stardev
Studio.
The multiplayer TRIBES: Vengeance demo is now available, allowing the chance to
check out Irrational Games' installment in the multiplayer shooter series. Word
from Sierra is that the T:V beta will end September 29. Also: "The multi-player
demo contains four maps and offers five different gameplay types. The final
version of Tribes:Vengeance will ship with 11 multi-player maps, but will offer
infinite variety with the availability of easy-to-use modification tools which
will be released when the game ships. Irrational Games has built a unique
gameplay system that will make it easy for enterprising game designers to mix
and match gameplay types, maps, and objects to create original and unique ways
of playing an online game." The 472 MB download is available on the
Sierra Entertainment Website, and mirrored on
3D Downloads, 3D
Gamers,
Fileaholic,
FileFront,
FilePlanet (registration required),
Filerush (torrent),
FileShack (registration required), Gamer's
Hell,
GameSpot DLX (registration required),
OzForces, and
Worthplaying.
3DMark05 has been officially released, the latest version of FutureMark's
popular benchmark. The FutureMark website
is fairly hosed at the moment, but the 283 MB download is mirrored on
3D Downloads,
Daily Rush,
FileFront,
Filerush (torrent),
FileShack (registration required),
Games-Fusion, Gameguru Mania,
JustGamers, and
MajorGeeks. There are
articles on the new version on
accelenation, bit-tech.net,
Bjorn3d,
The Tech Report,
TweakTown,
and X-bit
labs.
Half-Life Fallout has word from Gabe
Newell on Steam packages for Half-Life 2, which will be made available for
purchase next week, allowing another chance for gamers to pre-purchase the still
not-gold game, in spite of recent doubts cast upon its release date
( story). Each of the three game bundles includes
Counter-Strike: Source, and word is the full final version of the revamped
version of the military shooter mod that comprises Half-Life 2 multiplayer play
will be made available on Steam at the time the bundles can be purchased. Here's
the summary of the various retail and
Steam editions of Half-Life 2: Retail Boxes
• Standard Edition — includes HL2 and CS:Source. Ships on six CDs, in one of
three box-art packages (Gordon, Alyx or the G-Man).
• Collector's Edition — includes Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life
1: Source, a Half-Life 2 T-shirt and a Prima book sampler. Ships on a single
DVD.
Steam Packages
• Bronze — HL2* and CS:Source.
• Silver — HL2*, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 1: Source*, Day of Defeat:
Source*, Valve's back catalog currently available on Steam.
• Gold — HL2*, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 1: Source*, Day of Defeat:
Source*, Valve's back catalog currently available on Steam, Complete Strategy
Guide from Prima Games, 3 different Half-Life 2 posters, Half-Life 2 hat,
Half-Life 2 postcard, Half-Life 2 stickers, Half-Life 2 Soundtrack CD, Chance to
win a trip to Valve! (1 trip offered for every 5000 Gold packages purchased).
*To be made available upon product's release.
The Matrix Online Guided Tour #15
on GameSpy introduces yet another locale from the upcoming MMORPG, with "A
tour through the Jurong Neighborhood and a look at its people and places." Also,
there's a Jump to
Lightspeed Diary on IGN written by Sony Online Entertainment's Cinco Barnes
who supplies the fictional journals of a pair of pilots in the upcoming MMORPG
add-on, one from the empire, and the other a rebel.
- Half-Life 2
There's a
Half-Life 2 Q&A on Halflife2.net talking with
PCGamer editor Chuck Osborn about his
early review of Half-Life 2, Valve's not-gold shooter: "Counter-Strike:
Source is the multiplayer" and in conclusion: "Trust me...you won't be
disappointed."
- Cossacks II
GamersInfo.net's
Cossacks II: The Napoleonic Wars Q&A parleys with Eugene Grygorovych,
project manager on CDV's upcoming strategy game sequel: "Our learning
process included multiple visits to historical battle re-enactment sites.
Therefore, Cossacks II can be viewed as a game encyclopedia of that period
of history. We will have both true-to-life historical battles where you can
oppose a computer rival or another player, and real-life military leaders,
whose names are known and remembered by history buffs, as easily
recognizable units."
- Restricted Area
The
Restricted
Area Q&A on RPGDot talks with Jan Beuck of
Master Creating about their
action/RPG: "Restricted Area is an action RPG with an accent on both, action
and RPG. On one hand, we want to bring you more action -- not just watch
your character -- be it! But on the other hand - and we are really serious
about this - we wanted Restricted Area to be much more like a traditional
RPG than any existing action-RPG. There´s really no reason why story
complexity, character interaction or the roleplaying system itself shouldn´t
be as detailed and depth in an action-RPG as in a traditional RPG."
- Seed
The
Seed Q&A
on GamerGod chats with the developers of Seed: The Human Condition, an
upcoming MMORPG from Runestone Game Development: "The sort of game where you
wake up in the middle of the night and just have to log in to see if your
group managed to finally stop that infection from spreading - and if the
rest of the world knows you were the ones to save the day. *smile* I think
it's going to be a game world that feels alive, in that stories are going on
around the clock and NPCs are reacting directly to a lot of what you'll do.
I think people will be emotionally attached to the stories and characters
they experience, because we put so much effort into making the world
believable and coherent. Based on very early responses, I also think we're
going to have an active and heavily involved community. I also think it's
going to be a lasting love for many players, because events and NPCs can
surprise you, even after months of play."
- EverQuest II
The
EverQuest II Q&A
on Jaded-Gamer talks briefly with Steve "Moorgard" Danuser of Sony
Online Entertainment about their upcoming MMORPG sequel.
- Void War
Filling
a Void on Gamer's Hell is an article-format Q&A with Jay Barnson,
founder of Rampant Games, about Void War, their just-released space sim.
- GoPets
RPG
Vault's GoPets Q&A talks with Erik Bethke and Erin Hoffman about their
virtual pets game: "The underlying concept of GoPets is to connect people
through their virtual pets. Users create a pet and customize it with
whatever colors or accessories they want. The AI is as capable as any in the
market, and the pets are very fun even just one on one with the user, but
where they shine is when they go out onto the network and interact with
other users and their pets."
- Kuma\War
HomeLAN
Fed's Kuma\War Update Q&A discusses the latest installment in the
episodic shooter: "Military personnel are very interested in and supportive
of what we are doing. They see the value of it as a training tool and they
also like the idea of their stories being told through this unique medium,
beyond what you'd see on the news. We've had dozens of real-life stories
sent to us by returning and active duty soldiers, and we look foward [sic]
to modelling some of these missions soon. Soldiers like that the American
public remembers them and can experience their stories in a more powerful
way. One General told us that what we were doing could help him save lives."
GTR Website is online dedicated to the
FIA GT Racing game. The site carries info about the project, and it will host
online added value packs following the game's release. Also, the
TRIBES: Vengeance Website has
received a makeover (thanks
HomeLAN Fed).
The
DEEP SILVER Website has word (in German) that a new version 1.6 patch is
available for the European edition of Singles: Flirt Up Your Life. The patch is
a 29 MB download. Thanks Frans.
Thanks Mike Martinez. More ships than the Brooklyn Navy Yard:
Evil
Planet celebrates the release of Evil Genius, their namesake game, by
hosting a "design a henchmen" competition that includes a grand prize of a trip
to Elixir Studios.
A new
Star Wars Galaxies Architect Guide on Star Wars Galaxies Online shows how to
get in touch with your inner Art Vandelay. Also, there's a
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the
Cup guide on Gamehelper with a drive-through for the PC edition of the
racing game.
Ask and ye shall receive... on the heels of my comment about wanting a recording
of the SpaceOrb commercial from QuakeCast,
Christopher Van Epps' Blog now features downloads of that, as well as an
episode of "the Quake Phenomenon, with Mace Royer," and a recording of an entire
episode of the show from right around seven years ago with JUGECAL, loony, and
myself. Probably fortunately for us all, this obsession has not lead him to
encoding any of the associated video from all this.
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